


Please don't stay in touch

by Laramie



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Flowers, Language of Flowers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-21 04:35:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9531740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laramie/pseuds/Laramie
Summary: “How do I say ‘fuck you’ in flower?“





	

**Author's Note:**

> Previously posted on my tumblr, here by request from Abby! Title from Lily Allen's song Fuck You (it's marvellous).

Thomas was reading the news on his phone when someone stormed up to the counter, slammed a £20 note on the counter and demanded: “How do I say ‘fuck you’ in flower?“

Startled, Thomas looked up at the man, who had possibly the most perfect jawline Thomas had ever seen and blue fire blazing in his eyes. The expression of intensity on his face made Thomas swallow. “Erm,” he said, and cursed himself inwardly. “That seems an unusual message.”

“I’m paying for it, aren’t I?” the customer pointed out, grabbing his twenty to wave it in Thomas’s face. “Just find me some flowers.”

Leaving the counter meant getting a proper look at the customer, and Thomas took full advantage of the opportunity to check him out. Wow. That certainly brightened his morning. Thomas turned quickly away to hide the darkening of his cheeks he was sure was taking place, and went into the back room to pick out a selection.

When he returned, the customer seemed to have calmed down a bit. He was looking at the pre-made baskets and bouquets with an expression of poorly-disguised disinterest.

“It would include flowers like meadowsweet and orange lilies,” Thomas explained as he approached the man. In the back room, he had picked up examples of the blooms he would use, and pointed them out as he named them. “They’re for… for uselessness and hatred.” Which was a strange thing to tell somebody. Usually at this point, he would be parroting: ‘This one is for love everlasting… This is for affection…’ If the flowers with less-positive messages were used or requested, he and Tom, his business partner, tended to keep the meanings to themselves.

But the blonde customer only smirked. “Perfect.” He met Thomas’s eyes above the fistful of flowers and Thomas realised how close they were standing. The customer licked his lips, the motion of his tongue drawing Thomas’s attention. “How long will it take?”

Thomas’s eyes trailed up the customer’s handsome face. “Hmm?”

“The flowers.” The customer’s smirk widened. “When can I pick them up?”

“Right, right,” Thomas agreed, flustered. “It won’t take long. You can pick it up at two. I just need to get a few details for you first,” he added, returning to the counter for the order book. “So you want a bouquet with the message… ah… 'fuck you’.”

“Yep,” the customer agreed, sounding pleased with himself. “She’ll have no bloody idea.”

It was baffling that he was going to so much trouble to say something so obscurely.

“Been on at me for weeks,” Jimmy added, while Thomas wrote out the order. “Thinks I’m not romantic enough. I’m plenty romantic when I give a shit.”

Thomas felt his cheeks heating up again as a rebellious little voice inside him whispered: 'You could be romantic with me.’ The man had said  _she_ , though, so unless he was bi… Well, it was unlikely really, wasn’t it? Most people were straight. It was just maths. “And your name is?” Thomas asked, without looking up from the pen tip poised over the form.

“Jimmy Kent,” the customer said, and Thomas dutifully copied it down. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours, then… Jimmy.”

“See you later,” Jimmy replied, backing a couple of steps away from the counter and almost falling over a basket of roses. “Er… See you…” His eyes flicked downwards. “Thomas.” He turned and was gone.

Thomas sat for several minutes, willing his heart to slow down and flicking his thumbnail against his name badge.

-

A week later, Thomas saw Jimmy for the third time. He had seemed delighted with the bouquet, and Thomas had had to bite his tongue not to ask why on earth he had wanted it. He had left with a wave and Thomas had not seen him again until now.

Jimmy dropped his hand on the counter, but this time there was no money underneath his palm. “Can you ask someone out with flowers?”

“Er… I don’t see why not. They would have to understand the meanings, though.”

“That’s okay. This person does. The bouquet you gave me was great, by the way. She googled the flowers and figured out what I was saying.” Jimmy’s fingers began to tap nervously on the counter. “We had a massive argument and I ended up telling her I was only with her to shut my parents up. So we split up.”

The spark in Jimmy’s eyes clued Thomas in not to offer condolences but “Congratulations.”

“Thanks,” Jimmy grinned. “You’re the first person who’s said that.”

“Well, I’m one of a kind,” Thomas joked. “I’ll, er… I’ll go and find your flowers.” He slipped away, irritated at how disappointed he felt. Jimmy had become single, but already had his eye on someone else. Thomas had no chance, even if Jimmy had liked men as well as women.

Thomas made his selections and returned to the front of the shop. “If you’re asking someone out, you don’t want to go too far,” Thomas explained. “So there’s roses for the romance element but we’ll hold back on tulips, which are perfect love. You could have some Peruvian lilies if you’re already friends with this girl?”

“Um, not really.”

“Carnations, then. New love and fascination.”

Jimmy looked up at him. The world seemed to hold its breath for a moment. “Yeah, something like that,” he said softly. He took a sudden deep breath. “Whatever you think is fine. When can I pick them up?”

“It’s a quiet day today,” Thomas said. “I can make it up while you wait, if you want.”

“Yeah!” Jimmy agreed eagerly.

And so Thomas returned to the back room and gathered the flowers for Jimmy’s bouquet, even though it was putting him further out of Thomas’s reach. Who was this girl who knew flower meanings? God, if it was their Saturday girl, Daisy, Thomas would not be impressed.

When he had the components he needed, Thomas took them to the front of the shop and laid them gently on the counter. Jimmy was looking through their brochure as Thomas began to put the flowers together, holding them together with wire and tying it all together with a yellow ribbon. One of the carnations was getting a bit brown. Thomas used it anyway, hiding it in the middle of the bundle. Maybe Jimmy’s new relationship would be short-lived.

Once he was satisfied, Thomas called Jimmy over. “It’s ready.”

Jimmy ambled over, his lips pressed together tightly. He took the bouquet from Thomas and examined it closely. Putting his hand into it, he pulled out the imperfect carnation.

“That’s, ah, £15,” Thomas said, a little embarrassed that Jimmy had found the dying bloom. He was still a professional, after all.

Jimmy gave him a £20 note and waited for his change, holding the bouquet close to his chest. He pocketed the fiver Thomas gave him. He abruptly and silently thrust the bouquet towards Thomas.

“Er - what?” Thomas asked, confused.

“It’s for you.”

Thomas stared at him, the heavy scent of carnations and roses under his nose.

“I said it’s for someone who knows flower meanings,” Jimmy went on in the wake of Thomas’s silence.

“You said it’s for a girl,” Thomas pointed out.

“No, I  _didn’t_ ,” Jimmy snapped, and when Thomas thought about it, he realised Jimmy was right. “But if you don’t  _want_ it -”

“Of course I do!” Thomas said quickly, and he grabbed for the bouquet before Jimmy could take it away. “So - do you mean it?”

“Yeah.” Jimmy kept his eyes on the bouquet Thomas held.

Thomas smiled. “Then I’d love to.”

Jimmy beamed back at him, dazzling. “Great! When do you finish tonight?”

“Half-five.”

“I’ll meet you here. Can I take you for dinner?”

“Definitely.”

“Great,” Jimmy said again. He started backing away from the counter, then stopped himself before could stumble as he had the previous week. “See you later then, Thomas.”

“See you later, Jimmy,” Thomas responded. He breathed in nectar and watched the beautiful man leave his shop. A date. They were going on a  _date_.

 


End file.
